Lift off for communications tech firm as it wins satellite equipment contract

Leeds-based communications technology firm, Filtronic, has won a £3.4m contract with a provider of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications equipment.

The deal is for the supply of Filtronic’s Cerus32 solid state power amplifier module combined with a customised control board.

The modules will be installed in selected ground station locations for the second phase of the customer’s earth station antenna deployment which is designed to provide full E-band connectivity to recently launched E-band enabled LEO satellites.

This programme is the first time that high bandwidth E-band frequencies have been successfully used, in volume, in a commercial global LEO space application.

Richard Gibbs, chief executive officer, said: “Having successfully delivered phase one of their E-band earth station antenna installation earlier this year, we are pleased to continue our collaboration with one of the leading global providers of LEO space solutions in the second phase of their E-band deployment programme.

“We are also pleased that the customer has selected the Cerus32 module from our technology roadmap for this next phase of their roll-out.

“The Cerus32 product provides higher performance, in a smaller and scalable form factor, and the option to further enhance output powers as next generation compound semiconductor technology becomes available later this year.”